Purchasing FrSky Taranis Q X7 - Want a Buddy Box setup

[trimore]

I have been out of the hobby for a number of years, I was just getting into electrics when lipos came about about 10 years ago and then had to step out. Now that my sons are older, we are going to try to get back into flying together.

So with that, I want to have a buddy box from the start. I had one before and it was really cheap dedicated buddy box.

What do I need and get a buddy box setup for the FrSky Taranis Q X7?

I am starting with a
-Bloody Baron kit
-C power pack
-Tattu 1300mAh 75C 3S1P lipo battery pack
-FrSky Taranis Q X7

Thanks!!

Matt

 

[rockyboy]

The best setup that will get you both flying at the same time once out of the buddy box stage is to buy a second Taranis QX7 and connecting them together with a receiver that can output PPM like I did in this thread for a DSMX setup:

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthre...trainer-functions&highlight=taranis+buddy+box

In the case of a Taranis to Taranis buddy box (which I'm going to be putting together for myself soon) I'm planning to use this tiny little receiver in the back of the 'master' QX7 - the 'little buddy' QX7 will bind to this receiver in the back of the 'master' and the receiver will send it's signal into PPM trainer port.

https://www.getfpv.com/microfrx-rec...QDl-LjZLBn_5Lult0bkbPUtY-BdZZAbntRRoCyObw_wcB

The advantage to doing a little DIY work and getting a buddy box setup this way is once your sons are ready to fly on their own you now have two fully functional radios so you can have two planes up in the sky at once (and a spare radio in case someone drops something on the way to the field).

If you like the idea but are a little intimidated by the DIY aspect, don't worry - I can help out with detailed pictures and instructions.

 

[makattack]

I'm a bit of a hoarder with RC stuff, so I have some old TX's including my first real computer TX (the Spektrum DX6i) which I now use as my main buddy box trainer with my FrSky Taranis X9D+ as the master.

I even have a wireless setup similar to what rockyboy has described where I use a LemonRX PPM RX because I've had cases where an over-enthusiastic person using the trainer / slave TX gets too animated or excited and moves just far enough away or with enough force to disconnect the trainer cable.

 

[trimore]

Thanks for the replies. Seems like that is all more complicated than I would prefer for just getting started???

Am I correct though to say that just about any controller that has the buddy cable option will work?

Buying 2 FrSky Taranis Q X7 at this point is more than I want to spend.

 

[makattack]

Thanks for the replies. Seems like that is all more complicated than I would prefer for just getting started???

Am I correct though to say that just about any controller that has the buddy cable option will work?

Buying 2 FrSky Taranis Q X7 at this point is more than I want to spend.

Is, is anything ever all that simple in this hobby or heck, in life? Unfortunately, it is a bit complicated to get everything all sorted out for buddy boxing. It is a pretty complicated thing you're trying to do though. Control a single aircraft from two different controllers.

I think that while it may not be the case with all combinations of controllers, you're kind of lucky with the FrSky/OpenTX stuff in that it's so flexible, you can pretty much almost use any other controller as a slave with the FrSky/OpenTX transmitter as the master.

It's really all about matching the channel mapping and protocols. In my case, I am usually flying FrSky receivers in my planes and multirotors from the X9D. So, that sorts out the TX->RX interface. Next, the trainer/slave needs to be able to communicate with the master, and then with the plane. What this means is that, since I use Spektrum hardware for the trainer/slave, I need to make sure I map my channels in the same manner that Spektrum sends them... I believe that's AETR (aileron, elevator, throttle, rudder) -- but I'm going from memory, so it might be different.

Assuming you get the channel mapping to match, between the master and slave, it's pretty simple from there.

 

[trimore]

Is, is anything ever all that simple in this hobby or heck, in life? Unfortunately, it is a bit complicated to get everything all sorted out for buddy boxing. It is a pretty complicated thing you're trying to do though. Control a single aircraft from two different controllers.

I think that while it may not be the case with all combinations of controllers, you're kind of lucky with the FrSky/OpenTX stuff in that it's so flexible, you can pretty much almost use any other controller as a slave with the FrSky/OpenTX transmitter as the master.

It's really all about matching the channel mapping and protocols. In my case, I am usually flying FrSky receivers in my planes and multirotors from the X9D. So, that sorts out the TX->RX interface. Next, the trainer/slave needs to be able to communicate with the master, and then with the plane. What this means is that, since I use Spektrum hardware for the trainer/slave, I need to make sure I map my channels in the same manner that Spektrum sends them... I believe that's AETR (aileron, elevator, throttle, rudder) -- but I'm going from memory, so it might be different.

Assuming you get the channel mapping to match, between the master and slave, it's pretty simple from there.

Ok, thanks. In the olden days when everything was not computerized, it was really simple.

 

[rockyboy]

Ok, thanks. In the olden days when everything was not computerized, it was really simple.

A whole lot more expensive back then too. I remember needing to drop $400 for a decent radio back in the 80s - today's $100 radio is way more capable that it ever was

 

[trimore]

A whole lot more expensive back then too. I remember needing to drop $400 for a decent radio back in the 80s - today's $100 radio is way more capable that it ever was

True, hard to believe that a 16 channel radio can be had for under $125.

Looks like it just takes a standard stereo cable.

 

[rockyboy]

Yep - standard stereo cable usually works for buddy boxing - the signals work fine as everyone pretty much uses PPM signals, where it gets funny crossing brands is if they use a different default channel order (TAER vs AETR, etc).

But with the awesome power of OpenTX in the Taranis, you can map any channel to any function including all the trainer and so no more need to have the same brand master and buddy controller

 

[makattack]

Just a slight correction... any standard 3.5 MONO audio patch / passthrough cable should work... I've had it work with a stereo cable on my Taranis going to the PPM LemonRX receiver for the DIY wireless buddybox setup, but it was only because it was what I had lying around that I was willing to cut up for the mod. It worked for me because I didn't need a stereo patch cable. I only needed one end of the cable, so I pulled it off a non-working earbud along with the needed length of wire. I twisted two of the channel wires together so that the long part of the barrel was essentially a single conductor.

I'm not familiar with stereo patch cables, and how standardized they are. I could see a problem if somehow the mono connector on the TX's somehow contact that area between the two barrel bands and doesn't connect / touch either of the metal pieces. I suppose it would be easy enough to just solder them together with a bit of excess solder or even with a wire if that were to be the case. Anyway, using stereo cables should work. Just not sure if there might be a bit of luck involved if the tolerances are different... or heck, if the ground vs signal lines are completely different from what mono cables use for a standard (doubtful).

 

[argallo3]

Hi, read the threads but still alittle confused. I'm new to scene. I have two qx7's. I setup one for a nano skyhunter (white qx7) and works fine. I then wanted to setup the other as a slave under model 1. I went to white qx7 and switched it to master/jack and the other qx7 to slave/jack. Both are connected via an audio cable. I setup switch sh1 to go between trainer and slave. But when I go to trainer mode nothing happens. can anyone help?

 

[rockyboy]

Here's the video I followed along with to setup trainer functions - but I did it about 18 months and several versions of OpenTX ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYVLNMBMI1E

There's some updated manual information on OpenTX 2.2 related to the trainer function over here:

https://opentx.gitbooks.io/manual-for-opentx-2-2/content/radio_trainer.html

If that all doesn't help you out, I'll probably be trying to get mine working from the QX7 in the next couple weeks and will need to relearn it all then too